Pastor’s Blog

A Word From Pastor Jon - January 2012

Sun, 1 Jan 2012 13:19:39 -0800

“31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:31-33
I have relationships with several people that are completely based on need. They need something, they think I have it, and they want me to give it to them. Some of those people are very nice and thankful for what they get, others are rude and not very appreciative. I usually try to help them all out because the Bible says that when I give to others I am actually giving to Jesus, and I don’t want to say no to Jesus. But it is sad that these people never get to know me, and I don’t really get to know them. As soon as they have what they want, they leave, and I don’t see them until they need something else from me.
Many people have that kind of relationship with God. They will pray and ask Him for help when they need something, but as soon as they have what they want, they forget about Him until they are in trouble again. God is willing to have this kind of relationship with people because some relationship is better than no relationship. But how God longs to be closer! How He longs for a more intimate relationship!
People who want to have a deeper relationship with me can do so. Pick a time when neither of us will be rushed and set an appointment. Ask me questions about myself and my opinions and wait for me to give my answer. Take our relationship seriously, enjoy the moment and don’t miss appointments. Do this and we will undoubtedly become friends.
I can understand why people may not feel it is worth it to become friends with me. What I can’t understand is why people don’t want to be friends with God. A lot of upside with very little downside. God is available 24 hours a day, and is always able to meet you at the place of your choosing. You don’t have to dress, talk or act a certain way, in fact, God prefers that you be yourself. Keep your requests to a minimum, because God already knows all of your needs even better than you know them. Instead, focus on getting to know God better. Ask Him lots of questions and give Him time to answer you.
So far this year (yeah, I know it is only January 3rd!), I have been making appointments with God and keeping them. I spend time alone, so I am not disrupted and so I can talk to Him out loud if I feel like it. I have been taking a Bible and a Hymn book. The Hymn book puts me in the right Spirit (praise music will do, too) as I sing and reflect on the words. The Bible helps me ask God questions, as I read and want to know what it means. Then I take walk and listen for His answers. I have been loving the time we are spending together!
You may want to start small. Give God 15 minutes of your day. Read some Bible and pray. Listen to some Christian music on the way to work. Reflect on the words. Ask God questions. Listen. You will be surprised by the results. Friendship with God!

-Pastor Jon

If you would like to ask me a question or share a comment with me, please email me pastorjon@hhbchurch.com. I would love to hear from you!

A Word From Pastor Jon - December 2011

Thu, 1 Dec 2011 13:17:19 -0800

“In speaking of the angels He says, He makes His angels spirits, and His servants flames of fire.”
-Hebrews 1:7
“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.”
-Acts 2:2-3

Many people have felt the joy that comes when they experienced the Holy Spirit of God in their life. The first apostles felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives at Pentecost, when the fire of God rested upon them. For this reason, a powerful presence of the Lord in someone’s life is often described as “having the fire.” That why Timothy is told to “fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you.” (2 Tim 1:6) Those of us who have experienced the fire from God all want to keep it burning in our lives, but that often proves elusive. I am leaving tomorrow for Costa Rica to work at a youth camp, and they asked me to speak about practical ways to keep God’s fire burning in your life. I thought I would share with you what I came up with.
The obvious Christian answer is pray, read the Bible and go to church, but it often happens that our love for God can grow cold even in the midst of those activities when our heart isn’t in them. Here is what I have learned that will ignite the fire in your spiritual life. Even one of these may do the trick, but do all four sincerely and I guarantee that you will be burning brightly in no time.
Humble yourself before God. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10). This usually requires you to consider your sin and cry out to God to forgive you for what you have done (or not done). Don’t have sins to confess? Then first sin you need to confess is your pride, and then ask God to expose your sins so that you can see them. Admit that you are a sinner in need of a savior and then go read Psalm 51 to hear how David repented of his sin to God. Have that same attitude and you will be striking the first match.
Worship the Lord. God inhabits the praise of His people (Psalm 22:3). Don’t think that just showing up for church will start your fire, though. True worship means lowering yourself, and exalting God. You have to put aside your fears and insecurities and let loose your thanksgiving to God. For me, that often means singing loudly and lifting my hands to the Lord. For you it may be different, but you can’t be shy in exalting the Lord or it won’t work. Want to keep your praise quiet and unnoticeable? Then you probably aren’t ready to experience the fire of God.
Do something for God. “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22). That raises the question, do what? I can’t answer that for you, but God can. This is more simple than it sounds. Pray to God and ask Him to give you something to do today that He will be happy about. Then watch through the day for the opportunity that He will give you. I guarantee that God will show you something to do, but it will likely be something that you are uncomfortable doing at first. Do it anyway and feel God’s fire start to burn!
Sacrifice something. “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5). Again, I can’t tell you what to sacrifice. It could be money, time, effort or possessions. Often I have sacrificed my pride in doing things I felt embarrassing. I have sacrificed eating food, watching TV, doing my favorite activities. All you have to do is pray to God and ask Him what would be a suitable sacrifice for you to make to honor God. Burn, baby, burn.
You may have read through this list and thought that none of this appeals to you in the least. That is exactly why so few people have experienced God’s fire in their lives. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it because the rewards are so great. There is no greater joy that will come to you than to do what pleases God. I know. That is why I keep coming back to get my torch lit!

-Pastor Jon

If you would like to ask me a question or share a comment with me, please email me pastorjon@hhbchurch.com. I would love to hear from you!

A Word From Pastor Jon - November 2011

Tue, 1 Nov 2011 13:15:42 -0700

Musings:
I am a person who likes to ponder the seeming nonsensical things of life. For example, why is it that we drive on parkways and park on driveways? Why is a delivery by car called a shipment and a delivery by ship called cargo? Why do people recite at a play, but play at a recital? Why does your nose run and your feet smell? Why is a slim chance and a fat chance the same, yet a wise man and a wise guy are the opposite?
While we are at it, ponder these things: If a black box on a plane is indestructible, why don’t they make the whole plane out of that material? Why is it that whether you sit up or you sit down, the end result is the same? Is it possible to imagine a world with no hypothetical situations? What was the best thing before sliced bread? When you choke a smurf, what color does it turn? When sign makers go on strike, what do they picket with?
Here are some things that may be true at other churches, but certainly not ours : Why is it that those who talk the loudest and the longest understand the situation the least? Why do board meetings so often become bored meetings? How come Dominoes can deliver a pizza in 20 minutes, but the pastor can’t deliver a sermon in a half an hour?
OK, here is a tougher one to figure out. How come Islamic terrorists can kill 3,000 innocent lives and our government steps in to assist the building of a mosque near the site, while a Christian memorial to thousands of American soldiers that died preserving our freedom is removed from government land that wasn’t even government land until they took it? In one case we want to go out of our way to show hospitality to those who do little to try to stop atrocities from happening in the name of their religion, while doing all we can to make those whose religion led them to found this country with religious freedom feel unwelcome in the place of their heritage. I am not sure that this will make sense no matter how long I think on it.
There is little I can do about that, but I am even more frustrated when it hits closer to ministry I serve. Why do so many suffer needlessly when the door of our church is open, the people here are willing to help and there is no cost? Listen to the prophet Isaiah: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.” (Isaiah 55) Sure you can spend money on counselors, psychiatrists, doctors (Prescription meds are now killing more people than illegal drugs! Foxnews/2011-11-01), or palm readers, but I will tell you that none have better answers for the health and well being of you and your family than God does right here in our church. Parents spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours on sports and special programs for the children, when what will bless their kids the most is a relationship with God that we pass out for free at our church. Ponder that for awhile!

-Pastor Jon

If you would like to ask me a question or share a comment with me, please email me pastorjon@hhbchurch.com. I would love to hear from you!

A Word From Pastor Jon - October 2011

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:53:35 -0700

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” -Luke 19:10

We were due to leave the church for our camp on Catalina Island at 2pm on Friday and at 1:45pm Eric Vaught asked if Ryan Sheedy could jump on board with us. We had purchased 15 spots for the camp and already had 17 there. I told him, I don’t know if they will have room on the boat, but we will take a chance that they will. I had been praying that Ryan would go with us and I sure didn’t want to leave him behind. What will happen if there is no room for him?
I was also worried about our bus parking situation. I was supposed to get a driver to take the bus back to church and then pick us up again on Sunday. I didn’t want to pay what I expected to be a hefty price to park the bus at the terminal all weekend. Unfortunately, I forgot until the day before and couldn’t get anyone to do it on short notice. Online I found out that the price for a car was $15/day, but I called the terminal parking garage to see what they would charge a bus for weekend parking. The lady on the phone was unfamiliar with the English language, so I headed off without knowing what would happen. I thought, maybe if Ryan can’t get on the boat and they can’t park our bus, I’ll have Ryan drive the bus home.
When we arrived, the parking garage let me park on the street (the bus wouldn’t fit in the garage) and only charged me the same price as a car and only charged me for two days, even though we planned on being longer than that. Problem #1 solved better than I had hoped. We got to check in with our three extra people and I asked if there would be room for everyone. The lady in charge said she pre-bought 40 tickets for the voyage and there were 40 people going to the camp there ready to board, including Ryan. Problem #2 solved perfectly.
If that was the only time things worked out perfectly for me with very hazy planning and not enough forethought, I might call it a lucky coincidence. But after a few hundred similar circumstances in my life, I am fully convinced that it is no coincidence. Someone is looking out for me that has a perfect plan and knows how to use imperfect people like myself to bring it about.
I love watching God pull all of His plan together. The first night, I asked a young man if he was willing to hike up to the cross with me. He not only agreed, he opened up and shared that God was speaking to him to change his life path. I came back and talked to another young man who was hearing God’s voice speak to him and he was having trouble making sense of it. God gave me the words to clarify it for him. All weekend it went like that. Sometimes God used me, more often God used someone else, but in one way or another God spoke to every person over that 24 hour period. I never cease to be astonished when I see that the hand of God do His thing.
I know that not everyone will believe me when I say I can see the hand of God at work. Some don’t believe there is a God, some don’t believe that God would get involved with our daily lives. I have one thing to say to those people: BULL PUCKEY! There is a Christian pastor in Iran now about to be executed because he won’t renounce his faith in Jesus. How can you renounce what you have seen with your own eyes? I can’t. I hope you won’t.

-Pastor Jon

If you would like to ask me a question or share a comment with me, please email me pastorjon@hhbchurch.com. I would love to hear from you!

A Word From Pastor Jon - September 2011

Thu, 1 Sep 2011 15:23:08 -0700

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Luke 19:10

When Jesus came to earth, He had only one purpose in mind: to provide a way for lost sinners to have their sin taken away so that they could have relationship with God restored and live with Him in heaven forever. Jesus did many other things: He healed the sick, He trained his disciples, He fought for justice against oppression, He helped the poor, He preached the truth, He showed love and compassion. All of those things and more were done with one purpose in mind – to bring lost souls to find salvation in the cross of Jesus Christ.
Jesus once said, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36) What good is it to have health, money, family, freedom and love if and the end of your life you end up spending eternity in hell? “Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:37) That has been the subject of several movies where a person sells their soul to the Devil in exchange for some prize here in this world. What would you sell your soul to gain in this life? Do you have a certain amount of money in mind? Is it a million dollars? A hundred million dollars? Would you do it for fame or the love of a certain person? What would you want in the few years you have in this world in exchange for spending all eternity in the torment of hell?
I think most people if they thought about it, would say there isn’t anything that could be gained for at most 100 years in life that would be worth suffering forever for. Unfortunately, many people sell their souls for much less than you would think. Some give up their soul in pursuit of a certain man or woman. Some give up their soul for a few hours of delusion in alcohol or drugs. Some give up their soul for a job they don’t even like. Some give up their soul to relax and watch football or to sleep in on Sunday mornings. Some give up their soul to see their kids achieve success in sports or academics. Even worse, they sacrifice their kids souls at the same time.
I doubt if any of these people ever sat down and signed a contract with Satan to give him their soul or their kids souls. Yet that is what happened without their realizing it. You see, you don’t have to do anything to sell your soul to Satan. If you do nothing about your spiritual life, you go to hell by default. Hell is the default setting for your soul because of sins you chose to do.
My phone drives me crazy. I type in text messages, and my phone changes the spelling, even when I meant to spell something that way. I never set my phone up for spell checking, it just does it on its own because that is the default. Until I figure out how to change it, I’ll be fighting against my phone every time I put initials, names or lols in my texts.
The good news for me is that I did know how to change the default setting on my soul. All I had to do is to ask Jesus to take away my sin and adopt me into His family. Our church has chosen Jesus’ purpose statement for our purpose statement. We are here to seek and to save those who are lost. If you need to change the default setting on your life from “Hell” to “Heaven,” we would love to help you do that. See you Sunday morning at 10:30!

-Pastor Jon

If you would like to ask me a question or share a comment with me, please email me pastorjon@hhbchurch.com. I would love to hear from you!